Justin Lee Glassmyer (15) was killed when he was hit by a train while riding his bike across the tracks

A 15-year-old boy was struck and killed by a Metra commuter train Wednesday evening in far northwest suburban Fox River Grove, a tragedy officials say is compounded by the fact that it was the 11th anniversary of a fatal train-school bus crash at that very site.

Justin Glassmyer, of Fox River Grove, was riding his bike at the Algonquin Road crossing at 6:10 p.m. when the commuter train struck him, according to Fox River Grove Police Chief Robert Polston.

The morning of Oct. 25, 1995, seven students died when a train hit their school bus as it headed to Cary-Grove High School.

Probe under way
Polston, also on duty at the time of the 1995 crash, said the latest incident was different. Still, the pain of that day 11 years ago lingers.

"It comes back every year -- every time we go by there, it comes back a little. You remember, you don't forget," Polston said.

In the 1995 crash, the Metra train was trying to stop when it hit the back 18 inches of the school bus at U.S. 14 and Algonquin Road. The National Transportation Safety Board spread blame for the crash among several entities, including the Illinois Department of Transportation for poorly configuring the intersection.

Police and Metra officials said it was too early to know what happened Wednesday, but a probe was under way.

"We have no reason to believe that the crossing equipment functioned anywhere out of the ordinary," Polston said.

Judy Pardonnet, a Metra spokeswoman, said it was a "very sad day, obviously due to the fact that it is the anniversary today of the very tragic accident that happened here in 1995 where so many young people lost their lives."

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